Divrei Torah of lasting value that require some thought.
Established Ellul 5766/September 2006

Monday, September 29, 2014

Trojan Horse Chumros During Aseres Yemei Teshuva

Many people are not machmir on Chadash. Their mesora is to follow the opinion that Chadash is muttar outside of Eretz Yisrael. Although many people adopt stringencies in halacha during the Aseres Yemei Teshuva, those who eat Chadash the whole year have to be careful to not avoid it during the Aseres Yemei Teshuva. To be clear: If you eat Chadash all year, you can not be machmir to avoid it during Aseres Yemei Teshuva. Why? Because if a person chooses to be machmir on Chadash during Aseres Yemei Teshuva, he will be forever obligated to be machmir- not just during the Aseres Yemei Teshuva, even the rest of the year, forever. He won't even be able to be mattir neder. Aruch Hashulchan 603:2 - after discussing that a person ought to be machmir on things during Aseres Yemei Teshuva:

According to the Aruch Hashulchan, the only Chumros one should take on are cases where there is no issue about the halacha- it is definitely muttar- but it is good to be machmir, such as Gentile bakery bread, which is definitely muttar, but it's nice to avoid it since Chazal would like us to. Other examples would be Tevillas Ezra, or Vasikin. Rabbeinu Tam tefillin would be fine, too, since almost all of our Rabbeinu Tam tefillin are passul according to Rabbeinu Tam.

There is a Chayei Adam from the Pri Chadash (127:10) that is similar to the Aruch Hashulchan. He's talking about the need to be mattir neder for a minhag tov.

Unlike the Aruch Hashulchan, he says that if you did if knowingly as a chasidus, you can be mattir. Like the Aruch HaShulchan, he says that if a person felt that he really ought to be machmir in Chadash, and he acted on it, it is not just a neder; Chadash becomes 100% and irreversibly assur to him.What is the mechanism of this issur? Why can't you change your mind? It would be nice to think they are working with שוויה אנפשיה חתיכה דאיסורא. But in שוויה אנפשיה חתיכה דאיסורא itself you have the machlokes Mahari ben Leiv (1:19), that it's from a din of neder, and the Noda Beyehuda (II EH 23), that it's a din of ne'emanus. And this "ne'emanus," according to the Ketzos (34:4) is a din of hoda'as baal din, which doesn't make sense here unless you say that hoda'as baal din works not as eidus but as hischayvus, and this kind of hischayvus applies to issur v'hetter, which is very speculative. So I'm not sure of the mechanism of this problem.

The ramifications of this unsettling psak halacha are endless. This is not only relevant to Aseres Yemeir Teshuva. Any time you decide you decide to be machmir because of the machlokes haposkim, even without a kabala for the future, the same would apply.

There's an eiruv in town. You rely on it all year. But some people in town don't approve of it- because they are chosheish for the Rambam, or they hold the city is shishim ribo, or whatever. Here in Chicago, for example, several Shuls (Brisk, Aguda Peterson Park,) have announced that they do not want anyone who is carrying something in his pocket to daven there on Shabbos. You want to be machmir during Aseres Yemei Teshuva and not rely on the Eiruv.

All year you do like the Gaon, and you calculate Tzeis on the basis of the regular Shkiah. Come Aseres Yemei Teshuva, you decide to be machmir for a week like Rabbeinu Tam.

You usually rely on the Shach regarding bedikos for an ein lah vest. Now you are libo nokfo, and you want to be machmir; or better, you want to be machmir like the Sefardim do, like the Rambam, even by Yeish lah Vest.

That's it. You're stuck forever. You can't even be mattir neder. And this is not just one posek. This is the Chayei Adam and the Aruch HaShulchan.

UPDATE
My son Moshe sheyichyeh just sent me a teshuva from Reb Moshe (OC 2:83) that says not like the Aruch HaShulchan and not like the Chayei Adam, which Reb Moshe mentions.

Rav Elyashiv, (I am told there is a similar psak from Rav Ovadiah Yosef on a similar chumra) also encouraged people to be machmir in Chadash during Aseres Yemei Teshuva, like Reb Moshe, and not like the Aruch HaShulchan.

The sefer Tal Imrasi from R. Tal Doar brings a great number of achronim on this issue. (The link will open the relevant pages from the sefer as a pdf, or you can view the images below.)

2 comments:

Thank you Reb Moshe Feinstein! Without your leniencies, where would we stand! I see it like R Moshe: If I decided bli never to be machmir for whatever reason, but not because I believe it is the psak halacha, then I don't see any reason to be concerned like the other opinions do. I am an ignoramus but I don't see how one can argue to the contrary. As long as there is one Rishon out there that we generally hold by, I don't see the harm in being machmir during aseret yemei yeshiva or other times of judgement.

How to use this Website

Divrei Torah with a personal style and perspective; it may be negiyus but we enjoy them. Also, there is the occasionalexcellent insight.

These Divrei Torah are collaborative and iterative. Thanks to erudite and opinionated readers, posts almost never make it to the end of the week unchanged. If it doesn't make sense in the beginning of the week, check back later.

Some of these posts might require an investment of time and thought. While others are just divertissements and trifles, if you find nothing worthwhile here you're probably not paying enough attention. *** The writer of these posts is neither emotionally needy nor a narcissist; he writes for the pleasure of dialogue, for the benefit of intelligent criticism (which is incorporated into the evolving post), and so that readers might enjoy a novel Dvar Torah, *** The yeshivishe jargon may put some people off. This writer doesn't understand Pound or Derrida, and he is not expecting them to accommodate him. *** A long time ago, the author received Semicha from Rav Rudderman (1977) and Reb Moshe (1985). Those yellowing documents are insufficient to establish the validity of his current opinions in halacha or hashkafa. Reliance on his opinions can only be the product of credulity or indifference. *** The writer can be contacted at eliezere at aol.